Chapter 32
It took about thirty minutes for Mist's eyes to return to normal.
"Good grief..."
Recalling her gaze once more, I scratched the back of my neck as goosebumps rose strangely.
Her pupils had turned hazy.
There was even a strange gleam in her eyes as she quietly stared at the back of my neck.
"I won't stop you from looking at me strangely, but..."
The catalyst had been that day, when I received her loyalty.
She had sent me similar looks before, but at least she'd made an effort to hide them.
But after I received her loyalty, perhaps her leash had come off; now she didn't even try to hide such looks.
No, if anything, she stared openly at me so often that I was starting to get used to it.
"..."
I considered warning her once more, but gave up.
Aside from her strange gaze, she never touched me in any particularly strange way, so bringing it up felt awkward.
"Forget it. Never mind."
It wouldn't change anything even if I said something, and talking about it any further would only make my mouth hurt.
With that thought, I headed toward the Nebula ducal family's training grounds, which I had located in advance.
"Yaaawn..."
As expected, not sleeping for three days had left me seriously fatigued.
How should I put it? Every sensation throughout my body felt strangely dull, yet sensitive at the same time.
It sounds strange, but that was exactly how it felt.
The flow of air against my skin was irritatingly noticeable,
and I felt as though there were about a 0.5-second delay whenever I moved my body.
The sound of my heartbeat was echoing in my ears with uncanny clarity.
Even Mist's presence and footsteps quietly following behind me were beginning to grate on me.
'Ah, it decreased.'
When I stole a quick glance behind me, Mist began suppressing her presence, as though she understood why I had looked.
'Well... it's better than in my previous life.'
After giving Mist a grateful gesture, I loosened the stiff muscles at the back of my neck and thought that.
Maybe it was because I had reinforced my body with mana and suppressed my sleepiness.
Compared to the all-night training exercises conducted in the military in my previous life, my physical condition was considerably better.
Back then, I really thought I was going to die, seeing hallucinations and feeling my eyelids weigh a thousand pounds.
"Oh, we're here."
Leaving the estate, I saw a building ahead of me with a structure resembling a colosseum.
If there was anything unusual about it, it was the incongruous layout: befitting a knight order, it had both an arena for sword duels and a firing range where various firearms could be tested.
As I entered the training grounds, I felt the gazes of the knights who had arrived earlier and were training.
"That's him..."
"Isn't that Lord Abel?"
"He's the only one who would come straight here at this hour, isn't he?"
"Hmm... Lord Kaizen and Lord Abel, huh..."
'Ah, right.'
It was then, as I was moving toward the far end of the training grounds so as not to interrupt their training, with the knights' murmurs as background noise.
'Kaizen was friendly with the knights, wasn't he?'
So that's what it was.
A few knights were looking at me as though I were someone they found slightly uncomfortable.
'Unexpected.'
To have already gained the support of a few people in the short span of only about a month and a half.
He had been the one who fainted after falling victim to the duke's test, then went berserk upon waking up. This was truly unexpected.
Step. Step.
As I continued these pointless thoughts to chase away the encroaching drowsiness, the sound of footsteps approached.
'What the hell, how tall...'
When I turned my head, a gigantic knight was approaching, tall enough that I had to look slightly up at him.
He was at least two meters tall.
An overwhelming amount of muscle befitting that height.
His forearms were thicker than the waists of most women.
He was a middle-aged knight who radiated an overpowering presence despite being unarmed.
"Greetings."
"..."
"I am Vargis, commander of the Nebula ducal family's knight order. May I ask your name?"
An extremely gentlemanly introduction.
Perhaps it was prejudice, but hearing such polite words from a man who looked so taciturn...
'It feels like he's wearing clothes that don't fit.'
"I'm Abel."
"I see... As expected..."
"Wait, there's something I want to say first."
I scratched my head slightly as I looked at Vargis.
His manner was certainly impeccably polite.
But perhaps I was misperceiving it because I hadn't been able to sleep.
With my nerves on edge, there was a good chance I was reacting more sensitively than necessary.
"Speak comfortably."
"...Are you really sure?"
"Sigh... Yeah."
When I gave a light affirmative, Vargis's expressionless face cracked into a small smile.
"Hahaha. Then I shall heed Lord Abel's command. I came over simply to say that."
"..."
"I, Vargis, was truly impressed by such a refreshing and spirited declaration of war."
His eyes brimmed with goodwill, as though he sincerely meant it.
Perhaps he had really approached me just to say those words, because as soon as he finished speaking, Vargis walked toward the knights.
"What the..."
He really did come over just to say that one thing?
"Pfft."
They say you laugh when something is so absurd you don't know what else to do.
Vargis had approached with such solemnity, only to leave almost immediately, and a laugh escaped me at the sight.
After laughing for a moment, I sat in a suitable chair and waited for Kaizen and Bella.
***
"Hah..."
Abel's voice rang throughout the entire Nebula ducal estate.
"Hahaha..."
What Abel had said was shocking.
He hadn't slept for approximately three days because of the mercenary attacks on his way to this ducal estate.
He swore by the name of the God of Contracts that this was the truth.
So let us fight while I am this weakened.
"Hahahahaha!!!"
Bella let out an involuntary hollow laugh.
She was in a dead end. That was exactly the phrase for this situation.
If she ignored Abel's words?
Then it was obvious that every foundation Bella had built up until now would collapse.
A victory would merely let her break even; a loss would leave her utterly ruined.
"Sigh..."
Once she had thought that far, Bella slumped into her chair as though all her strength had drained away.
'This is the worst.'
With her keen mind, Bella began analyzing the broadcast that had just played.
[I haven't slept or gotten any proper rest during the approximately three days of continuous attacks I've endured on my way here to the Nebula ducal family.]
In these words, Abel had never once mentioned either Bella or Kaizen by name.
But people would naturally think of them.
There was no way such sustained attacks could be normal.
Then it was obvious that someone hostile to Abel had commissioned them.
And who could have ordered those attacks? The only possibilities were Kaizen and Bella, the other illegitimate children.
"..."
It was an incredibly natural nudge toward the conclusion he wanted.
If Bella herself had been unrelated to this incident, it would have been a masterstroke that made her murmur in admiration.
"Sigh... Damn it."
Muttering that, Bella began checking her weapons.
The board had already been set.
If she didn't step forward immediately and instead stalled until the next day, public opinion would clearly side with Abel.
"..."
Thus, Bella took all her weapons and headed toward the knight order's training grounds Abel had mentioned.
***
"Bwahahaha!!"
At the very moment Bella was lamenting her predicament, cornered with no way out, and gathering her weapons,
Kaizen's room was filled with hearty laughter.
"Hahahaha!!!"
How could he not laugh?
Abel had completely seen through all his schemes and, worse, turned those schemes against him to create a trap ensnaring both him and Bella; Kaizen felt he could hardly show Abel enough respect for such ability.
"Kehehe. Ah, seriously."
Yes, he admitted it.
He had really resorted to a laughable scheme.
He had done it because he had regarded Abel as prey rather than an enemy.
In the month since Abel entered the ducal family, his behavior of doing nothing but loafing around had created this prejudice.
That Abel was a nobody.
"I'm so ashamed I can't even raise my head, seriously..."
No, if anything, he was the nobody here.
Misjudging an enemy's capabilities was a fatal blunder for a warrior, after all.
"Kehehe."
After laughing for quite some time, Kaizen began gathering his weapons, his face still brimming with amusement.
He hadn't moved after coolly analyzing the situation like Bella.
He moved for the one very simple reason that, as a warrior, he had received such a declaration of war and would answer it.
Bang!
After gathering all his weapons, Kaizen quickly ran toward the knight order's training grounds Abel had mentioned.
***
About an hour after I entered the training grounds.
As I was sipping the extremely strong coffee Mist had brought me to ward off sleep, the door to the training grounds opened.
"Oh, you're here?"
Had they timed it, or was it a coincidence?
Kaizen and Bella were entering the training grounds at the same time.
At the sight, I felt all the knights, who had been whispering among themselves without realizing it, fall silent and turn their attention this way.
Step. Step.
Kaizen was armed with the long sword at his waist, a sniper rifle on his back, and numerous other firearms.
As befitted a mage, Bella had thoroughly outfitted herself with various pieces of equipment engraved with bizarre magical inscriptions.
"..."
After confirming that the two were fully armed, I rose from my chair and walked toward them as they approached.
The distance between us gradually narrowed.
Eventually, when we were close enough to touch, the three of us stopped simultaneously without anyone saying a word.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Long or short, it was time to put an end to this situation over the position of heir to the ducal family.